ABOUT

By Dawn Arteaga

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The name Stella LLC was inspired by my grandmother, Stella Waterman, who believed that there would be no more wars if more people from across the world could sit down at the dinner table together. It’s a simple notion for a big concept, but something she held dear.

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When she passed on she left her 24 grandchildren - of whom I am the youngest - a small inheritance. The money came with strings attached. Her descendants were required to use the money to travel to other countries with the purpose of study and to find opportunities to connect with people from different countries and contexts.

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At the core of what I understand from Grandma Stella is a belief that has shaped my life’s purpose: Forming deep connections to people different from us is the only way to find peace. It is a belief that has transformed who sits around my family's kitchen table, and it has shaped the way I approach my work.

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Connections between people of different backgrounds, contexts and access to power are at the center of successful movements and at the center of finding opportunities to truly lift one another up.